Isis Unveils Mobile Payment System This Month

NEW YORK CITY -- The joint mobile-payment venture backed by AT&T Inc., Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA Inc. is on track to launch in September, the Bloomberg news agency reported.

The joint venture, called Isis, offers a near-field communications (NFC) platform that allows users to make purchases with their smartphones. T-Mobile plans to use the technology to enable its customers to download applications and content by tapping their phones against a special terminal.

An Isis spokesperson confirmed its end-of summer rollout, Bloomberg reported. The mobile-payment system was supposed to roll out in the first half of this year, but was delayed. The holdup centered on ensuring secure payments after the joint venture decided last year to have credit-card companies handle transactions rather than the carriers.

Isis plans to launch in Austin, TX, and Salt Lake City -- test markets that will prove to the carriers and their partners that the system can work.